Laphroaig Càirdeas 2011, Ileach Edition, 50.5% abv.
Ileach supposesly means "native of Islay" in Gaelic. I always thought it meant "Islay-ian"? I guess tomato, tomato (I think only Americans would understand that semi-joke). This is actually an 8 year old matured in Makers Mark ex-bourbon barrels, with a supposed outrun of 3,750 bottles, which is quite a lot imho.
Nose: very light, hints of wood, salt, hints of ripe cherries.
Palate: honey, hints of fruit, back palate is intensely sweet and smoky, has that scented cedar wood chip thing going as well. After a few sips, the initial palate is more sweet with wood here and there, the sweetness being something in-between honey and molasses rum.
Finish: long, an initial rush of fruits and then sweet smoked wood dominates, coal, slightly drying.
Wow, very good! the profile is a little weird in that its mostly barrages of flavors and then retreats until the next sip, so I guess a lacks depth? Reminds me of Zerg in Starcraft. Pretty different stuff for me. I admit this is a biased review.
Grade: A-
Whiskyfun.com, Serge Valentin, 86 points
Malt maniacs, 84 points on 2 reviews
Whisky advocate, John Hansell, 84 points
Lawhiskeysociety, B from 2 reviews
Image courtesy of Eric Yee.
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